Strydom defeated in semi-final

NAMIBIAN junior tennis player Jurgens Strydom did Namibia proud during the Junior Wimbledon championship that ended in London over the weekend.

For the first time in history, the name Namibia appeared on the scoreboards of Wimbledon, the most prestigious Grand Slam event in the world. Only four junior players from Africa participated – Magy Aziz and Aly El Sherbini from Egypt, Anas Fattar from Morocco and Strydom from Namibia.Strydom and his partner, Christopher Llewellyn from the UK, were eliminated by Jesse Levine and Michael Shabaz from the United States in the semi-finals of the Junior Wimbledon championships in London on Saturday evening.The score was 7-6, 6-3.Levine is ranked 25th on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) list and Shabaz 42nd.Strydom and Llewellyn beat Anas Fattar (Morocco) and Aly El Sherbini (Egypt) in the first round with a score of 4-6, 7-6 (5) 6-4.They then beat Dylon Arnould and Jamie Hunt from the USA 7-6, (3) 7-6 (5) in the second round and continued by beating Damico and Tim Smyczek, also from the USA, with an easier score of 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the semi-finals.Strydom’s mother, Retha Strydom, said in a media statement on Sunday that despite their loss on Saturday, being able to qualify for Wimbledon after beating several strong opponents and reaching the semi-finals in this major tennis event has been the highlight of Strydom’s tennis career so far.The junior players play at the same venue as the senior players and share the same dressing room and players lounge facilities, so they are able to watch the major players practise and warm up throughout the tournament.Teaming up with junior British player Llewellyn proved to be in Strydom’s favour, as Llewellyn was more used to the unfamiliar grass courts than Strydom.However, both of them had strong serves and were confident at the net with excellent volleys.All the matches that they played were characterised by the fact that they could hold on to their serves and that they were able to synchronise their attacks and defences well.They also managed to win four tiebreaks, which is a great achievement as all players are usually extremely tense at that time.Strydom, who is sponsored by MTC Namibia, will be returning to Windhoek this week to assist with coaching clinics for the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA) and the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Development Programme players together with André de Beer.He will then return to the ITF Centre in South Africa where he is training on an Olympic Solidarity scholarship to prepare for the SATPC Junior ITF Tournament from July 19 to 24 and the PIC Junior ITF Tournament from July 25 to 30 in Pretoria.After that, he will return to Windhoek to defend his singles title in the first leg of the ITF Under-18 South and Central Africa Junior tournament.All players participating in the circuit will then move to Botswana from August 7 to 11 and Zimbabwe from August 13 to 17.Strydom will then prepare for the USA Junior Open Championships in September.- NampaOnly four junior players from Africa participated – Magy Aziz and Aly El Sherbini from Egypt, Anas Fattar from Morocco and Strydom from Namibia.Strydom and his partner, Christopher Llewellyn from the UK, were eliminated by Jesse Levine and Michael Shabaz from the United States in the semi-finals of the Junior Wimbledon championships in London on Saturday evening.The score was 7-6, 6-3.Levine is ranked 25th on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) list and Shabaz 42nd.Strydom and Llewellyn beat Anas Fattar (Morocco) and Aly El Sherbini (Egypt) in the first round with a score of 4-6, 7-6 (5) 6-4.They then beat Dylon Arnould and Jamie Hunt from the USA 7-6, (3) 7-6 (5) in the second round and continued by beating Damico and Tim Smyczek, also from the USA, with an easier score of 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the semi-finals.Strydom’s mother, Retha Strydom, said in a media statement on Sunday that despite their loss on Saturday, being able to qualify for Wimbledon after beating several strong opponents and reaching the semi-finals in this major tennis event has been the highlight of Strydom’s tennis career so far.The junior players play at the same venue as the senior players and share the same dressing room and players lounge facilities, so they are able to watch the major players practise and warm up throughout the tournament.Teaming up with junior British player Llewellyn proved to be in Strydom’s favour, as Llewellyn was more used to the unfamiliar grass courts than Strydom.However, both of them had strong serves and were confident at the net with excellent volleys.All the matches that they played were characterised by the fact that they could hold on to their serves and that they were able to synchronise their attacks and defences well.They also managed to win four tiebreaks, which is a great achievement as all players are usually extremely tense at that time.Strydom, who is sponsored by MTC Namibia, will be returning to Windhoek this week to assist with coaching clinics for the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA) and the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Development Programme players together with André de Beer.He will then return to the ITF Centre in South Africa where he is training on an Olympic Solidarity scholarship to prepare for the SATPC Junior ITF Tournament from July 19 to 24 and the PIC Junior ITF Tournament from July 25 to 30 in Pretoria.After that, he will return to Windhoek to defend his singles title in the first leg of the ITF Under-18 South and Central Africa Junior tournament.All players participating in the circuit will then move to Botswana from August 7 to 11 and Zimbabwe from August 13 to 17.Strydom will then prepare for the USA Junior Open Championships in September.- Nampa